Out Of Time
by Mrs Scott Tracy
Summary: A ThunderbirdsRed Dwarf cross over. My first fic ever, please R&R. WARNING: This fic contains scenes of graphic violence. COMPLETE.
1. Default Chapter

**'Thunderbirds' created by Gerry Anderson.**

**'Red Dwarf' created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor**

**The Boys from The Dwarf** **(part one)**

Scott Tracy was reading a magazine in the lounge when he heard the noise. It was loud crack from outside, then rumbling. He ran to the patio windows and looked out, just in time to see a strange craft emerging from some kind of _hole_ in the sky; As if the sky was just a blue curtain, and someone had torn a hole in it, exposing the black window behind it.

The craft was green in colour, and was made up of three round sections, each slightly larger than the one in front of it.

The craft nose-dived into the sea, causing a huge wave that engulfed the patio, and knocked Scott off his feet. The water drained away, and Scott ran to find Gordon.

  "Something just crashed into the sea." Scott shouted as he ran past Jeff. Jeff stood up to follow Scott.

  "What?"

  "I don't know, but it was _big_ and _green_. We've got to get Thunderbird four out there."

  "You're right." Jeff agreed. "Where's Gordon right now?"

  "I'm here." Gordon said, appearing at the doorway. "I saw that thing crash and figured we should use Thunderbird four."

  "Right." Said Jeff. "Get her out there. Scott you go with him."

  "Yes sir." Scott and Gordon said, and went to launch Thunderbird Four. 

  Thunderbird Four pulled up along side the craft that was now bobbing on the surface. It was huge. Bigger than Thunderbird Two, easily. And it was covered in dents and scratches and scorch marks. Wherever this thing had come from, it had come a long way.

  Gordon manoeuvred Thunderbird four so that she was facing the green craft. He fired a line attached to an extremely strong magnet onto the craft and began to drag it to the island.

  "Who do you think they are?" Scott asked as they made the brief trip back.

  "I have no idea." Gordon replied. "Let's just hope there friendly."

Gordon docked Thunderbird four, and, after setting up a strong winch, they pulled the green craft out of the water.

  "OK." Scott breathed. "Come out, come out, whatever you are."

 Just then, the door of the green craft opened. In the doorway, appeared a man. He was around thirty years of age, and was wearing a dark green suit, made of a shiny material. He had short but curly hair, nostrils like railway tunnels. But what Scott and Gordon noticed first was the shiny blue 'H' on his forehead. 

  "What do you suppose that 'H' means?" Gordon whispered.

  "I don't know." Scott hissed back. "Maybe his name's 'Harry'."

  "Hi!" Scott called. "Who are you?"

 The man approached them.

  "I'm Rimmer." The man said. "Arnold J." 

  "I'm Scott, this is Gordon. Are you alone?"

  "I wish." Arnold J Rimmer said. "No, I'm not."

Rimmer, Scott and Gordon turned back to the craft and watched as the rest of the green crafts' crew emerged. There was a short dumpy liverpuddlian, with dreadlocks and a deerstalker, and black man in elaborate clothing. 

But it was the forth crew member that emerged from the craft that made Scott and Gordon almost think about thinking about getting the heck away from there. It was a robot, almost six feet tall, with a baldhead and angular features. Neither of the brothers had ever seen anything like it before. The little dumpy one approached them. 

  "Hi." He said. "We had a sort of crash. I'm Lister. This is Rimmer, The Cat and Kryten."

Scott approached the robot.

  "You're a robot?" He said.

  "I'm mechaniod, sir, yes." Replied Kryten in his Canadian accent. "4000 Series."

  "Hey Bud!!" The black man said to Scott. "What do you have to do to get some _food_ at this joint?"

  "Cat!!" Lister admonished him. "Show some _manners_, man!"

  "That's OK." Gordon said. "You must be hungry. Come inside."

Lister, Rimmer, Kryten and   The Cat followed Scott and Gordon into the house. Jeff was waiting eagerly them to come in. 

  "Father." Gordon said. "This is the crew of the craft." 

They were all introduced to Jeff and when he learned all their names, they all sat down.

   "So, you were _killed_?" Jeff asked. "And now you're a what? A Hologram?"

  "Yes." Rimmer replied. "I'm made entirely of light."

  "So that's what the 'H' means!" Scott said.

  "Yes." Rimmer said. What did you think it meant?"

  "Nothing."

So they all sat down and between them, Lister, Rimmer,  The Cat and Kryten told the Tracys how they had all come to be the crew of Red Dwarf. How they had rescued Kryten from another ship called The Nova 5. How  The Cat had evolved from the domestic house cat. How Rimmer and the rest of the crew had died in a radiation leak and Rimmer had been revived as a hologram, and why Lister had survived.

 "So." Lister said. "What do you guys do?"

  "Allow me to answer that, sir." Kryten said. "In the 21st century, where we are now, a billionaire and ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy set up a rescue organisation dedicated to saving lives and helping human kind wherever he could. He used his vast fortune to build phenomenal machines and equipment, and along with his five sons, he set up International Rescue."

Jeff looked at Kryten, aghast.

  "How did you know that?"

  "We've come from the future, sir." Everybody listen as Kryten told them about the derelict ship they had found. And on this ship was a strange machine, which turned out to be a wormhole generator, created by an extremely intelligent being. Kryten had spent a few days familiarising himself with the controls, and they were able to use it as they liked. ".....So we created a worm hole that brought us back to earth." 

Kryten explained all about the wormhole had taken their craft, Star-Bug back to a time when it was still near Earth. The crack Scott and Gordon had heard was the ship breaking through the fabric of time. 

  "So, we get discovered in the future then?" Scott asked. "_Someone_ figures out who we are?"

  "Yes sir." Kryten said. "But they figure it out _long_ after you _all_ die from old age. Don't forget, we've come from the future."

  "So, where's your ship now?" Jeff asked.

  "Well the one that crashed in the sea is just the transport vehicle." Lister said. "It's called Star-Bug."

  "Yes." Kryten added. "It's mother ship; our main ship, Red Dwarf is still in the future."

  "How far in the future?"

Kryten was about to answer but he was interrupted by a crack and a rumbling noise. Scott and Gordon recognised it from before and ran to the window. But they couldn't see anything.

  "What is it, Kryten?" Lister asked. 

  "It's Red Dwarf, sir. Someone has used the time drive to bring her back too." 

  "Who?" Asked Rimmer. As he said this, a face appeared on the watch on Listers wrist. 

  "All right, dudes?"

  "_Holly_!" Lister exclaimed. 

  "Here, where are we?" Holly asked. 

  "We on Earth Hol! We're home!"

Holly was about to say something else when a strange craft appeared out of the sky and swooped over the island. It fired a tiny but well aimed missile, a warning shot, onto the patio, between Lister and Scott. Neither of them was hurt, but it did leave a crater.

  "Oh, I meant to say." Holly said. "We've got company." 

Scott ushered everyone inside. The craft was hovering around the island.

  "Someone should talk to them." Rimmer said. "Listy?"

  "I'll go." Scott said. He stopped and turned around. "How _do_ we talk to them?"

Lister jumped up. 

  "We've got equipment for talking to all sorts of beings on Star-Bug." He told Scott.

"Come on, man. I'll show you."

Scott and Lister headed of for Star-Bug.

  "So what do we do now?"  The Cat asked. 

  "We wait until Scott and Lister have returned from your craft, and we've figured out who those people are, and what they want."

  "I'd imagine they only want us, sir." Kryten said. "They obviously _followed_ us here."

  "My point was,"  The Cat said, "Is when can we eat?"

  "Yes of course." Jeff said. "Kyrano."

Kyrano appeared from the kitchen.

  "Ah, Kyrano. You couldn't whip up a snack for our visitors, could you?" Jeff asked.

  "Certainly, Mr. Tracy." Kyrano replied.

  "Please." Kryten said, climbing to his feet. "Let me help you."

Kyrano look at Kryten dubiously. 

  "Actually, Kryten." Jeff said. "There's someone I would love you to meet." 

Jeff led Kryten down a corridor, down a flight of stairs and into Brains' lab. The shy whiz-kid was looking over plans of Thunderbird One to see if he couldn't make the ACD more sensitive.

  "Brains." Jeff said. "We have visitors."

Brains stood up but was still looking at his plans. Then he turned and saw Kryten for the first time.

He was speechless. He went up to Kyryten and touched his face.

  "_Incredible_!" He breathed. "Absolutely _incredible_."

  "Why, Thank you sir." Kryten said. 

  "Who _made_ you? When were you made? Who _designed_ you? What type of robot _are_ you? What were you designed to _do_?" Brains gushed.

  "I'm a sanitation droid." Kryten explained. "I was created to serve and do domestic duties. But Mr. Lister helped me to break my programming, and do whatever the hell I want. Haa!"

*******************************************************8  

In the lounge, the rest of the Tracy family had gathered, and where talking to Rimmer and The Cat.

  "Any chance we could have look at your ship?" Virgil asked.

  "I don't see why not." Rimmer replied. "As soon as we've sorted out our guests."

  "Hey!" Called Tin-Tin, who had been watching out the window. "Something's going on here." Everybody ran to the window. The strange craft had Star-Bug in some sort of beam, and was dragging it out of the water and into the crafts hull with Scott and Lister still aboard.

  "Get Kryten." Rimmer told  The Cat, and he went of the find the mechaniod, following his scent trail.

Brains, Jeff and Kryten arrived in the lounge.

  "What's going on?" Jeff asked.

  "That craft has taken their green ship." Virgil said. "And Scott and Lister were still in it."

  "They've taken Mr. Lister!" Kryten gasped. "We have to get them back."

Jeff went to his desk. 

  "OK." He said. "Alan, Take Rimmer, Kryten and  The Cat up to there ship in Thunderbird three. Virgil, you go with them. Gordon, you too."

  "Yes sir." Alan said.

Jeff pressed a button on his desk and his hidden microphone appeared.

  "This is Jeff Tracy calling Thunderbird five."

  "Go ahead, father." John said, appearing on the wall.

  "OK, John." Jeff began. "We've had some visitors and now Scott has been abducted by a strange craft with one of our said visitors. I've sent the boys to go after them, and I need you to keep the emergency frequency open. OK?"

  "Er, sure, father. FAB." John replied, clearly baffled. "Emergency frequency is open."

  "Good, OK." Jeff said. "Jeff out for now." 

 Alan launched Thunderbird Three and set a course for Red Dwarf. He docked the 'Bird in the landing bay, and they all climbed out.

  "Follow me." Kryten told them. "We need to get to the drive room."

Alan, Gordon and Virgil followed Rimmer,  The Cat and Kryten to the drive room. Holly's face appeared on the wall.

  "Where's Lister?" He asked.

  "They've taken him." Kryten croaked. "And Scott too."

  "I've got a trail on them." Holly told them. "I've set a course."

****************************************************************

Inside Star-Bug, Scott and Lister had to hold onto the two pilot seats to steady themselves.

  "What are these people?" Scott asked.

  "They're not people, not really." Lister replied. "They're simulants. The most dangerous type of droids you could ever hope not to meet."

  "So why are they after you?" Scott said.

  "We went into their space." Lister told him. "They're very territorial."

  "OK." Scott said. "Lets not go around the houses; are they going to kill us?"

  "Probably." Lister replied.

*********************************************************************

  "It's the simulants." Kryten said, inside Red Dwarfs drive room. "I feared it was."

  "Smeg." Said Rimmer, quietly.

  "What are simulants?" Virgil asked.

  "They're the most dangerous type of droids you could ever hope not to meet." Answered Rimmer.

  "Lets not go around the houses." Virgil said. "Are they going to kill them?"

  "Probably."  The Cat replied.

**************************************************************************

The doors of Star-Bug where opened from the outside, and to Lister and Scotts' surprise, it was inside another ship.

A simulant approached them with a fierce looking gun and gestured for them to follow him. He looked so human that the only way they could tell he was a droid was by a cut he had above his eye; Instead of a red line, it was _silver._

The ship was dank and unkempt. Loose wires hung down, with sparks flying off them. One swung down just as Scott walked past it and he had to duck.

At last, they arrived in what they figured to be the ships drive room.

  "So, you seek to lure us back to your Earth?" The simulant asked. He sounded like somebody doing a comedy impression of Marlon Brando.

  "Hey, you followed us, man." Lister said. "You were attacking us."

  "You entered my space." The simulant said.

  "Did you know it was _his_ space?" Scott asked.

  "Well, no. I didn't." Lister answered.

  "So, what happens now?" 

Before anyone could say another word, Scott wristwatch emitted a beeping sound.

  "What's that?" The simulant demanded.

  "It's time to get up!" Scott laughed.

Lister thought that was some pretty quick thinking.

As the simulant went to check all the read-outs of his engine were all a-OK, Scott nonchanatly put his hand down to his watch and turned the face of it. The beeping had been Jeff trying to get in contact, but Scott didn't want the simulant to know about the rest IR, not yet.

Turning the face of the watch, set off the emergency signal on the island, and Thunderbird 5.

Scott looked at Lister, and gave him a reassuring look.

********************************************************************************************

Kryten read the read out the navigator had printed out.

  "Sirs." He called.

Everyone gathered round.

  "I think I know where they're taking Mr. Lister and Mr. Tracy." He told them. "It looks as if they're headed for that planet there." Kryten indicated to a little speck on a star map.

  "Oh, _there_." Rimmer said, caustically. 

  "Holly, plot a course." Kryten said.

  "Do you think we'll catch them?" Virgil asked.

  "Well, we'll catch with them soon enough when they reach their planet, sir." Kryten said.

Suddenly, Virgil's watch began to beep. He lifted his wrist.

  "Go ahead, father." He said.

  "We just tried to get in touch with Scott and Lister, but they didn't answer." Jeff said. "But then we got an emergency signal from Scott. I've contacted John in Thunderbird 5 and told him to keep this frequency clear. If he hears anything, he'll let us know"

  "We've got a track on the ship father." Alan said. Jeff could here him but he couldn't see him. "Kryten thinks the ship is heading to some planet."

  "We're going to follow them." Virgil said. "We'll keep you updated."

  "You see that you do." Jeff said, and signed off.

  "OK, Kryten." Virgil said. "How far do you think the planet is?"

  "Well sir, according to the star map, we should be there in a few days."

  "A few _days_?"

**********************************************************************************

The simulant turned to Scott and Lister.

  "Follow me." He said.

Scott and Lister were lead down even more corridors. They eventually arrived at what looked like some sleeping quarters.

  "You will stay in here." The simulant told them, ushering them in the door. It closed, and they heard it being locked from the outside.

There was bed, and lister sat down on it.

  "What do we do now?" Scott asked, finding a metal chair to sit on.

  "How should I know?" Lister retorted.

  "Sorry." Scott said. "I just thought you had met these simulants before."

  "I have. But they're all different. Anyway, what was _beeping_?"

  "Oh that was my father trying to get in contact. But I couldn't reply while the simulant was watching." Scott explained. "But I set off the emergency signal so now father and everyone else knows we're in danger."

Lister hoped off the bed and went to the window. 

  "Hang on a minute." He said. "We're alone now. You can talk to him now."

Scott lifted his wrist.

  "Scott calling Tracy Island. Come in dad."

  "Scott." Jeff said, appearing on the watch. "Are you OK son? What's happening?"

  "Lister and I have been taken on to a ship by a simulant. We don't where he's taking us. He has us locked in a room."

  "OK Scott. Now Alan, Gordon and Virgil are coming after you in Red Dwarf with  The Cat Kryten and Rimmer." Jeff told him. "Just hang in there and when you get to wherever you're going, they'll pick you up and bring you home. OK guys?"

  "FAB."

  "Brutal."

They were left in the room for what seemed like hours. Scott had finally fallen asleep, but Lister had slept earlier and was now just waking up.

He went to the window again.

Daylight.

They were no longer in space. He went to Scott and gave him a shake. Scott woke up and saw the light for himself.

But it wasn't like Earth's daylight. It was  pinky and charged, like the light on Earth when a thunderstorm was imminent.

The door of the room opened and the simulant came in. 

  "We've landed." he said. Scott and Lister stood up, as to walk out the room but the simulant stopped them. He fired his weapon at the both in rapid succession. Scott felt dizzy and weak. His surroundings became dark and blurry and he felt the floor come up and hit him in the side.

Lister came to. He was lying on a cold hard floor of a wide open area. He was still on the ship, and guessed, correctly, that he was in a disused storage area. It was huge and he couldn't see any of the walls; like in a dream when your surroundings don't have a wall of fence or go on as far as you can see. They just stop, and then there's blackness.

 He was fastened to the floor by his ankle with a metal hoop. It was stuck in the floor like a croquet hoop; so he had no choice but to sit down on his side.

Whatever the simulant had shot at him and Scott with had really knocked him for six.

He couldn't see Scott.

  "Scott." He called. "Scott, man, are you OK?"

Just then he heard banging on the floor behind him. It was Scott banging his foot on the floor. He sitting in the same kind of metal chair that was in the room they had been kept in. But this time, Scott was tied securely to the two arm rests of the chair, and he had some thick black tape over his mouth.

Lister was about to  say something else when the simulant came in. 

  "I want to know what business you had in my space." He said. "You dare to enter without my permission."

  "Look man." Lister said, keeping an eye on Scott, who in turn was watching the simulant. "We didn't know, OK? And we're really sorry for, uh, invading your personal space." He winced at the pun.

The simulant looked at him for a moment. Then he gave a short sharp whistle and somebody else entered the bay. It was a mechanoid. It wasn't like Kryten; it was much newer looking and had a dark helmet that obscured its face completely. 

  "Very well." The simulant said. "So you want to play it the fun way, do you.?"

He signalled to the mechanoid that was not like Kryten with a jerk of the head. The mechanoid went to Scott and tore open his shirt. The he produced a normal DIY nail gun and held it to Scott's stomach. Scott looked at Lister, eyes wide.

  "Now." The simulant said to Lister. "What were you doing in my space?"

***********************************************************************************

Jeff sat behind his desk waiting nervously for any news. Kyrano offered him coffee but he refused. 

This was the strangest IR mission to date and it couldn't even be described as an IR mission. A strange craft had appeared from the sky and crash-landed near the island. Its crew had come (albeit invited) into the house. Then some _stranger _craft had appeared from the sky and beamed the first strange craft aboard with one of it's crew and his son still aboard. 

John hadn't been in contact for about twenty minutes. 

Nevertheless, Jeff had faith in his boys and he was sure that they wouldn't get hurt.

***************************************************************************************

 The mechanoid that was not like Kryten fired the nail gun into Scott's stomach. He didn't react immediately, because at first he was not sure what had just happened to him. But then he the pain hit him and it took his breath away and made his stomach muscles convulse. He broke into a cold sweat, and his head slumped forward. But the simulant grabbed hold of his hair and yanked his head up. Then, he pulled the nail (which was about six inches long) out of Scott's gut, which made Scott gag, and reloaded it into the nail gun. Scott looked at Lister, he was grey, and his eyes were dull.

  "Stop it." Lister said, dully. 

  "Are you going to tell us what we want to know?" The simulant asked.

  "I don't even know what you want to know." Lister whined.

This time, the mechanoid that was not like Kryten fired the nail gun at Scott without ceremony. This time Scott cried out (or at least he tried to with the tape over his mouth), and Lister screamed and shouted at the simulant that he couldn't tell him what he wanted to know. 

Scott tried to focus his eyes on Lister but he couldn't. Everything was blurry and no matter how hard he tried, he could not clear his vision.

 He wasn't sure how much more of this torture he could take. He had lost count of the amount of times the mechanoid that was not like Kryten had shot him. He felt like he could throw up at any time, but if he did, he feared his insides would fall out.

He couldn't feel the nails anymore. He just felt shivery, as though he had a fever. 

A few minutes later, however, Lister was coming to after being knocked out. The mechanoid and the simulant were gone, and he was untied. 

He rushed over to Scott, who had also been untied and was lying in a heap on the floor and rolled him over. His eyes had rolled up into his head and his breathing was quick and shallow. 

Lister got hold of his wrist, which was cold and clammy, and found his watch. 

  "Hello?" Lister called. "Can anyone hear me?" _Anyone. please._

"Lister?" It was Virgil. "Is everything OK?"

  "No, man." Lister replied. "Everything is not OK. Scott's been hurt, we need help, quick."

  "Will be with you in a few hours."

Lister looked at Scott. He was white as snow, and now his was twitching.

  "I don't think he has a few hours."

*********************************************************************************

 The Cat landed Star-Bug a few hundred feet away from the simulants ship. Kryten and Virgil climbed out and headed towards the other ship. It didn't take them long to find Scott and Lister with hand-held scanner for detecting life forms. 

Lister saw them to, and waved to them. Kryten rushed over, followed by Virgil. He quickly glided a mediscan over Lister and he was OK apart from a slight dizziness from the simulants weapon. 

But it was Scott who was the most cause for concern. Virgil went to him and leant over him. 

  "Scott?" He said, in a small voice. "We're going to get you back to Red Dwarf, then we'll get you fixed up. OK?"

Scott opened his eyes and looked at him.

   "F...F..FAB." He breathed, and then he passed out.

***************************************************************************************

Scott lay in the medibay bed. Kryten and the skutters had fixed him up as best they could and given him a strong painkiller. He had been shot a total of eleven times by the nail gun. And the mechanoid that was not like Kryten had known where to aim so that he wouldn't kill him; what fun would that have been?

Kryten was just leaving the medibay to let the others know how he was when Virgil came in.

  "How is he?" Virgil asked.

  "He'll be OK, sir." Kryten answered. "I've given him some painkillers and now he just has to rest."

Virgil thanked Kryten and went to see Scott.

  "He's going to pay for this." He told Scott. "You'll see. He's not getting away with this."

Scott slowly opened his eyes and looked his brother. 

  "He already has." He said. "He's long gone."

Virgil's eyes glided over the blood stained bandages around Scott's stomach.

  "Then we'll go after him. Track him down."

  "No, Virg." Scott said. "I just want to go home. OK?"

Virgil was about to argue back when he realised Scott was right. They should go home. They had rescued Scott and Lister; Mission accomplished.

Virgil took hold of Scott's hand and meshed their fingers together.

  "I'll go tell them." 

Vigil left the medibay and went to find the others.

  "How is he?" Rimmer asked.

  "He's OK." Virgil replied. "Considering."

  "So we can go home now, right?"  The Cat asked.

  "Yes, sir." Kryten said. "Plot a course for Earth, Holly."

And Red Dwarf began her two-week process of turning around.


	2. part two

Part two.

Tin-Tin knocked on Scotts' bedroom door. He was sitting up in bed reading a magazine about kit-cars. It had been a month since the simulant had abducted him and Lister and his wounds were healing well.

The simulant had overridden Red Dwarfs controls and sent her back through the worm hole. Back to the future. The Red Dwarf crew had been gone for six weeks now and neither him or Lister had talked about what the simulant had done. 

Tin-Tin put a fresh mug of tea on Scott bedside table and perched on the edge of the bed. 

 "I don't know why I have to stay here." Scott moaned to her. "I can fly Thunderbird One without any problems."

  "Yes but what if you have to lift something heavy or something like that?" Tin-Tin told him. "Brains says you're not ready for that yet. Better you get heal completely before you go on a mission. Otherwise you'll just do your self more damage."

  "Yes, mother." Scott said, and took a sip of his tea.

Tin-Tin gave him a sweet kiss between is eyes and went out the room. 

Scott put his tea down and put his hand to his stomach. 

In the next second he was back in the simulants ship with the mechanoid that was not like the mechanoid that was Listers friend. He heard the _clunk_ of the nail gun mechanism. He felt the cold nail drive itself repeatedly into his gut. He hard Lister shout out for it to stop. He could feel the coldness of the storage bay in which the ordeal had taken place. Worst of all, was the feeling of utter helplessness; He was tied up and it was no longer up to him what happened to his body.

Then he felt someone holding his hand, and he opened his eyes. It was Virgil.

  "You were having a flashback." Virgil said. He soothed Scotts hair off his wet forehead.

It took Scott a few seconds to realise he wasn't on the simulants ship, and that he was safe at home. He looked at Virgil.

  "Oh, Virgil." He said. "I ache all over. And I feel sick all the time." Virgil gave his hand a squeeze. "I'm sorry; I don't mean to go on."

  "Don't be silly." Virgil told him, raking his hand through Scott's hair "It must have been awful."

Scott gave him a tiny smile.

  "I just want to get back to work, back to rescuing and what not."

Virgil smiled back.

  "I'm afraid that's up to Brains and Dad." He said. "Why don't I go and talk to him?"

  "OK." Scott replied. "But don't say I sent you."

**************************************************************

Lister sat on the bunk of his and Rimmer sleeping quarters. 

Rimmer and  The Cat were out around the ship somewhere. And Kryten was doing some laundry.

Lister let out a loud sigh and went to find Kryten.

He found him folding sheets in the laundry room. They had already been folded once, but Kryten felt like he hadn't done them to his best standard. So he was doing them all again.

  "Hey, man." Said Lister miserably.

 "Oh, hello Mr Lister, sir." Kryten said. He sat on a work bench and gesture for Lister to sit beside him. "What's the matter, Sir?"

Lister sighed again, not knowing what to say.

 "I just keep thinking about Scott, man." He said at last. "He had nothing to do with that simulant and he was the one who got hurt."

  "It wasn't your fault, sir."

 "Wasn't it? I could have just lied; said anything to make him stop. He really hurt him, Kryten."

  "Oh, now, you mustn't engage guilt mode." Kryten said. "You tried everything you could think of at the time." 

  "I want to go back." Lister said, quickly. "Make the worm hole again and go back."

  "What for?" 

  "So I can apologise. So I can put things right. I don't know."

Kryten thought for a moment. 

  "I'll talk to Holly, see what he thinks."

  "Thanks man."

************************************************************************** 

Terry and his kids, Mandy and Jason, stood on the bank of the Thames. It was the first time he had ever visited the London Eye, even though it had been around for 65 years now. But then Terry hadn't been to London before.

 Mandy was 5 and eating a cone that was fast melting away, and Jason was 7, and gazing up at the huge wheel. 

 They had been queuing for twenty minutes now. It was a clear day, and the wheel was very busy. People piled on and off the wheel. Amazingly, it was still a good tourist attraction, even thought it was old, and quite boring.

  "It's big, isn't it?" Someone said behind Terry. He turned to see a young woman.

  "Yes." Terry agreed. "It is."

  "Have you seen it before?" The woman asked.

  "No, never."

  "Me neither."

Terry looked up at the wheel again. All the capsules windows were blotted out with people.

Finally, they reached the front of the queue. Terry was just about to help Mandy in when there was  a cracking noise from the sky. Everybody, including Terry, thought the crack had come from the top of the wheel, and look up. But it hadn't. 

In the sky was the same torn hole that Scott Tracy had seen. And from the hole came a huge green craft, shaped like a some kind of bug. It headed to Earth at a very steep angle. It's landing supports clipped the top of the wheel, causing sparks to fly every where, then it landed in the Thames. 

  "COOOOLL!" Jason squealed, eyes wide. "Did you see that?" He tried to run the bank of the river, but Terry stopped him. 

Everyone turned away from the sky and looked at the river. The green craft was nowhere to be seen. 

Then, there was  a terrible groaning noise from the wheel. Everyone turned back to the wheel in time to see it lurch to one side. There was the sound of a hundred muffled screams from all the people on the wheel., and it was now hanging at a 45% angle over the Thames. 

It groaned and lurched again. Bolts flew from one of the supports, and it came up from the ground. The wheel leaned some more. Terry held his kids close to him, as the wheel stopped turning, and creaked and groaned on it's one remaining support.

**************************************************************************

  "Thunderbird Five calling Tracy Island. Come in, father."

"Go ahead, John."

  "Father, I've got a distress call from London, England. Something has crashed into The London Eye and now it's balanced over the Thames, with people in it."

  "OK, John." Jeff said. "Any idea what  it was that crashed?"

  "Yes father. It was the same craft that crashed near the island a week back."

  "Star-Bug."

  "That's the one. Shall I tell them we're on our way?"

  "Yes, son, you do that."

  "FAB."

  Virgil, Gordon and Alan had gathered around Jeff's desk as he was talking to John.

  "OK, Boys. You heard what he said. Alan, you launch Thunderbird One and...."

  "Woah woah woah." Scott said from the living room door. " 'Scott, you launch Thunderbird One'." I think you meant to say.

Jeff chuckled.

  "OK, son. So long as you feel up to it?"

  "No problem, father." Scott replied and went to the wall that flipped around took him to Thunderbird one.

Jeff turned to Virgil. 

  "Launch Thunderbird Two and take the crane. And take Gordon with you."

  "FAB."

Scott settled into the seat of his Thunderbird and fired up the engines. The pool slid back, and he was off.

Virgil followed in Thunderbird Two.

  "Thunderbird Two calling Thunderbird One. Come in, Scott."

  "Go ahead, Virg."

  "Why do think they came back?"

  "Maybe they hit another worm hole." Scott replied. "I just hope they're on their own this time."

Scott landed Thunderbird One on a patch of grass near the Eye and went to cast an eye over the situation. The wheel was hanging precariously over the Thames and it had people in it, although it was no longer moving, and the single support that was holding the wheel up threatened to give way at any moment.

  "Where's the craft that hit it? The green one?" Scott asked a policeman near by.

  "It's over there, mate." The officer replied pointing out to the middle of the river. The top of Star-Bug was now protruding out of the water. As Scott watched, he saw the crew open a hatch way and climb out. After he was satisfied that they were all OK, he went  back to Thunderbird one to set up the Mobile Control Unit. 

Soon, Thunderbird Two was on the scene. Virgil trotted over the site to meet Scott.

  "Get the crane set up." Scott told him. "We need to stand this thing upright.

Virgil went back to Thunderbird Two and he and Gordon set up the crane, and a winch.

Then they manoeuvred the crane so that it was next the wheel. Virgil went up in the crane to attach a line to the top of the wheel, that would then be attached to the winch.

Lister, Kryten, Rimmer and  The Cat had climbed into an inflatable dinghy and were headed to the bank of the river.

Lister climbed out first and went to talk to Scott. 

 "Hey, man." said Lister, nervously.

  "Hi."

  "Listen, Scott," Lister began. "I never got a chance to..."

Scott shushed him.

 "It wasn't your fault, OK?" Scott said. He was talking to Lister, but he was watching Gordon and Virgil.

  "If there's anything we can do." Lister said. "Just let us know. OK?"

Scott put his hand to his stomach, and turned to face Lister.

  "Like what?" Scott asked. "There's nothing anyone can do. It happened. And all the apologies and favours in the world aren't going to make it _un_happen."

Scott began to walk back towards Thunderbird One.

  "What if you could?" Lister asked Scott's back. He stopped and turned around.

  "What?"

  "What if you _could_ make it unhappen?" Lister went on. 

Scott frowned. He glanced at Gordon and Virgil, who had attached a line to the top of the wheel, then he looked back at Lister.

  "How do you make something unhappen?" He asked.

  "You go back in time."

Scott didn't say anything.

  "We have this time-drive." Lister said "All we have to do is back...."

   "Wait a minute, wait a minute." Scott interrupted. "Just go back and stop it from happening? It's as easy as that?"

   "Yeah. And we only have to go back a few weeks. It's not like we have to go back to the last century, or something."

Scott watched Gordon and Virgil for a moment longer, squinting against the sun.

  "You really think it's possible to go back, and stop me from getting hurt?" He asked Lister. 

  "I don't think. I know. We've used the time-drive before."

  "Is it safe?" 

  "Oh, yeah, so long as you don't abuse it. What do you say, man?" Lister asked. "We can take it from when we come through the worm hole."

  " 'Take it from when we come through the worm hole'." Scott repeated. "It sounds like we're rehearsing a play."

Lister shrugged. 

  "Yeah, and the first rehearsal went wrong. All we have to do is go back and make sure we don't get into Star-Bug together."

  "Why don't we just make it so we never met?" Scott asked. 

  "Because if your going to change history, you have to change the smallest amount of details as possible." Lister said, not rising to the insult. "Just go back, stay on the Island, and wait for the Simulant to leave."

  "What if he doesn't leave until he's got somebody to take with him.?"

  "Look, man." Lister said. "I know your scared..."

  "I am so not scared."

  "...but it's not as scary as you think. Kryten will tell us what to do."

Scott turned back to Gordon and Virgil. He didn't do anything for such a long time that Lister thought he had ended the conversation. He turned to go.

  "OK." Scott said.

  "You'll do it?"

  "I'll do it."

**********************************************************************

Lister,  The Cat, Rimmer and Kryten were in Star-Bug, heading back to Red Dwarf when Lister told them all his plan

  "Are you sure it's good idea?" Rimmer asked. "What if you get hurt instead?"

Lister gave him a sideways look.

  "Or me?" Rimmer added, quickly.

  "Think of the effect, sir." Kryten put in. "You may stop Mr . Tracy from getting hurt, but you might cause an even bigger problem. What if you don't get the Simulants ship away from Tracy Island? He could destroy it."

  "Then we _will_ go to Star-Bug. We'll just  make sure we go armed." Lister replied. "Take a couple of Bazookoids."

  "I don't know, Sir."

  "It's just a couple of weeks back."

  "I know but...."

  "Go back, save Scott, come back."

 "Oh, well, uh. Oh my....." Kryten stuttered, starting to engage worry mode.

Something hit the side of Star-Bug that made it rock. 

  "What the smeg...?!"

  "It's the Simulant, sir."

  "Fire retros." Rimmer said. "Lets get the smeg out of here."

But before they could do anything, Star-Bug was hit again. She spun in a half circle, so that she was facing the other way. The crew was thrown everywhere.

Lister got hold of one of the seats and pulled himself to his feet.

  "Everyone OK?" He called.

  "Yeah."

  "Yes, sir."

  "Cat?"

  "I'm OK man."   The Cat said. He climbed to his feet. "I'll try to get the retros fired." 

He went to the cockpit.

  "Wait a minute." Kryten said. "I'm getting a reading. Someone's coming on board."

Lister, Kryten and Rimmer stood and watched as the air in front of them began to distort and ripple. Then it rippled into the shape of a human, then it became the simulant.

 "You left before I was finished with you." The simulant said to Lister. He raised a gun.

  "Hey, man..." Was all Lister had time to say.

***********************************************************************

Kryten docked Star-Bug in Red Dwarfs landing bay and headed for the drive room. 

Rimmer and  The Cat followed behind, hardly able to keep up. 

Hollys' face appeared on the screen. 

  "Kryten, what's wrong?" Holly asked. 

  "What's the biggest weapon Red Dwarf has?" Kryten demanded.

  "Just the bazzookoids." Holly answered. "She's only a mining ship. Why?"

Again, Kryten ignored Holly and headed out the drive room.

Rimmer and  The Cat reached the drive room and Holly appeared again.

  "What's happened?" Holly asked them. "Where's Lister?"

  "Lister bough the hot end of a gun." Rimmer said.

  "You mean he's dead?" Holly gasped.

  "That's right, bud."  The Cat said. "The simulant dude came on board and shot him. Now Krytens gone _nuts_."   

  "Where's Kryten now?" Rimmer asked.

  "He's headed back to Star-Bug." Holly said. 

Without another word, Rimmer and  The Cat  headed out the drive room too. 

They reached Star-Bug as Kryten was powering her up again. They climbed in and found Kryten in the pilot seat.

 "What are you doing?" Rimmer asked him. 

  "I need a weapon." Kryten said, flatly.

The bay doors opened and once again, Star-Bug was launched.

*********************************************************************

Scott landed Thunderbird One back in her hanger. 

He had been feeling weak, since he had left the rescue site, and all the way home he felt shivery.

He made his way from the hanger to the lounge.  Jeff was the first to see him, as he sat behind his desk. 

  "Heck, son, you look awful." Jeff remarked. 

  "Yeah, I feel kinda..." Scott collapsed on the floor.

Jeff called for Brains, and he appeared at the door.

  "What is it, Mr . Tracy?" He asked.

  "I'm not sure. I think Scott has a fever. Help me get him to the sick bay."

Between them, they got Scott to the sick bay and into one of the beds. They both heard the sound of Thunderbird Two's engines.

  "That's Virgil and Gordon back." Jeff said. "I'll see if they're OK. You look after Scott."

Jeff left and Brains turned to Scott . He looked like a ghost, and he was unconscious.

Brains felt his forehead. It was very hot. Then he checked his pulse. It was racing away.

  "Scott?" Brains called.

Scott murmured something, but Brains couldn't understand what he was trying to say.

Scott groaned and gripped his stomach. Brains gently moved his hands away and lifted his shirt. The wounds from the simulants nail gun had reappeared as if they were fresh. Brains gingerly touched them, and they were sticky. It was as if Scott's body somehow gone back to a time when his wounds had not heeled more. 

Brains stood up to go and look for Jeff when he heard the noise.

The sky above Tracy Island was torn open again, and Star-Bug came flying threw it. Gordon was in the pool and heard the noise. He climbed out, and watched as Star-Bug landed near the Villa. 

Kryten climbed out first. Then Rimmer, and The Cat behind.

Brains emerged from the Villa, and stood beside Gordon, as Kryten walked up to them.

 "What's wrong?" Brains asked. 

  "The simulant came on board Star-Bug." Kryten told him. "He killed Mr Lister."

Neither Brains or Gordon could think of anything to say before Kryten pushed past them.

 "What happened?" Gordon asked Rimmer.

  "What he said happened." Rimmer replied. "The simulant killed Lister. And now he wants to kill the simulant."

  "But I thought..."Brains began.

  "He can't hurt a human?" Rimmer said. "No, he can't. But the simulant _isn't_ human, it's a robot, like him. And it's killed his favourite human."

  "We'd better follow him." Gordon said.

  "What do you think he wanted to come _here_ for?" Asked The Cat, as they made their way to the lounge. "How's he going to find the simulant from here?" The Cat had been deeply traumatised by Lister's death; his blood had splattered on his favourite black slacks. They would never be the same again. Ever.

  "Maybe he thinks he can use International Rescue equipment to..."

  "Wait a minute." The Cat said, interrupting Rimmer. "Something doesn't smell right."

  "What?" Asked Brains.

The Cat stood, sniffing the air.

"Someone's sick." He sniffed again. "Poisoned."

  "Someone's been poisoned?" Gordon asked in amazement.

  "Who? _How_?" Rimmer asked. 

  "This way." The Cat told them, and he headed in the direction of the sick bay.

Kryten was already there, with Jeff and Virgil.

 "Welcome back." Jeff said. 

  "What's wrong with him?" Rimmer asked, nodding towards Scott.

  "He's been poisoned." Kryten said. Vrigil looked at him

  "How did you know that?" He asked.

  "By the simulant." Kryten went on. "It's a poison they develop, or _developed_, I should say in the future. It's programmable, and you can program it to lie dormant in a human body for as long as you want."

  "But how did _he_ become infected with it?" The Cat asked. 

  "From the simulant, Sir." Kryten said. "It must have been on the nails."

  "So what do we do?" Jeff asked. Looking down at Scott. "Is there an antidote?"

  "Yes, the simulant will have it." Kryten said. 

Jeff had to think for a minute.

  "OK." He said at length. "I want you to stay with us here, as our guests, for a rest. And we can discuss the best way to go about this whole time travel business."

Everyone agreed. Gordon took Rimmer and The Cat to the lounge, while Kryten, Virgil and Jeff stayed in the sick bay.

  "How long do you think we have?" Jeff asked Kryten, but he was still looking at his son.

  "It's impossible to say Sir." Kryten told him. "They can even program how long it takes to kill someone, from the time it starts to work."

Jeff visibly shuddered, and gripped Scott's hand.

*************************************************************************

Later that night, Kryten pottered around the kitchen, tidying this and cleaning that.

Everybody else had long since gone to bed; The Cat and Rimmer were lent a spare room each.

All Kryten could think about was Lister. He couldn't even console himself with the thought that they would meet again when he expired himself; He was a mechanoid; he was going to go to Silicon Heaven, while Lister was in human Heaven. 

He threw a plate across the kitchen in rage. Then he engaged guilt mode, and went to tidy it up.

As usual, Kyrano was the first up in the morning. The first thing he did was go and check on Scott. He was still unconscious, and had been wired up to a heart monitor "Just for a precaution." When he was satisfied that Scott hadn't got any worse, he went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. He saw the note taped kettle. He tugged it off and read it.

 _ Sirs, _

_I have taken Star-Bug to find that simulant. You maybe able to wait to find him, but I can't._

_Do not try to follow me._

_Kryten._

Kyrano folded the note into his pocket, and took a loaf of bread out the bread-bin.

*********************************************************************

  "But Kryten." Holly begged. "You can't confront him alone. He's insane. He'll kill you."

  "No he won't." Kryten said. "Not if I kill him first."

 Kryten had used the long range scanner to see if the simulant was still in the area. He was, thirty miles above Tracy Island, about ten miles of to the East. And now Kryten had a lock on his craft, and he was going to make him pay for killing Lister.

Kryten checked the scanner again. The simulants ship had suddenly  taken flight. So he powered up Star-Bug thrusters and went after it. 

**********************************************************************

  "When did you find this?" Jeff asked, reading the note Kryano had handed him.

  "This morning. After I checked on Scott."

Jeff rubbed his temples. 

  "What chance do we have of finding him?" Jeff asked Brains, who was standing nearby.

  "Well, the best thing to do is launch Thunderbird Three and use the scanners on her." Brains replied. "If we don't get to him, before he gets to the simulant, we may be too late."

  "Why?"

  "Well, from what Kryten told me before, the simulant will kill him without even thinking about it. And Kryten is the only one with the slightest idea of how this poison is supposed to work." 

  "Couldn't you figure it out?"

  "Probably, given time. But Kryten also has the time drive, and the worm hole generator, and we need those if we're going to have any chance of saving Scott."

Jeff thought of Scott, unconscious, with the heart monitor beeping away next to him.

  "OK, You heard him boys. Away you go."

Alan, Gordon, Virgil The Cat, and Rimmer all made there way to Thunderbird Threes' silo.

When everyone was in position, Alan launched her.

  "Thunderbird Three to Star-Bug." Alan said into the radio. "Come in, Kryten."

Silence.

  "Nothing." Alan said.

  "Let me try." Said The Cat. "Hey, Novelty Condom Head. Are you there.?" 

  "Nice one, Cat." Rimmer sneered.

But then the radio crackled.

  "I told you not to follow me." Kryten said, angrily.

  "Kryten." Virgil said. "I'm sorry about Lister, I really am. But Scott is very ill and we need your help to save him."

  "I'm sorry too." Kryten said. He pressed a button on the controls of Star-Bug and a beam of energy was fired out her front end. The beam seemed to hit something, and a hole was torn in the fabric of time. Star-Bug disappeared into. 

But before it could closed, Thunderbird Three slid in too. The whole nearly closing around her rockets.

***************************************************************************

The Simulant ship had landed on the same planet as before. The one with the thunderstorm sky. Star-Bug was standing next to the simulants ship. Thunderbird Three touched down too.

That was something on this planet that none of them had seen before: A complex of some kind. It didn't look like it was for living in; it looked like science labs, or some sort of work place. It was huge and went on for miles, and some of the buildings were incredibly tall, and all the buildings were join together by a network of tunnels.

Kryten watched the simulant climb out of his craft, and make his was towards the complex. Then he climbed out of Star-Bug and went after him.

  "What do we do?" Alan asked Virgil, as they watched Kryten. 

  "We'd better follow him." Virgil replied. 

Virgil, Rimmer, The Cat, Alan and Gordon climbed out of Thunderbird Three, and made their way towards the complex.

  "Now, remember." Virgil said. "If the simulant sees Kryten, he will kill him, and if Kryten kills the simulant, we don't find out what the antidote to the poison is, Understand?"

  "I understand." Said Alan, shakily.

  "Me too." Added Gordon.

The three members of International Rescue drew their guns form their holsters, and The Cat shouldered a bazookiod. 

Close up, the complex was cold and metallic. It didn't take them long to realise that it was abandoned, and the entrance was not even locked.  Virgil pushed the door, and they all went in. 

Inside, it was dark, and cold. Corridors branched of in three different directions. One to the left, one to the right and one straight ahead.

  "What now?" Rimmer asked. 

Just then, however, they heard movement ahead of them.

  "I told you not to follow me." Kryten reminded them. 

  "Look, bud," The Cat said. "We all want to kill this sim' dude. But these people here need your help to save their brother."

  "And they'll get it." Kryten said. "Just as soon as I've finished here."

  "Kryten," Virgil said. "He'll kill you before you even realise he's _there_. Now, come back with us. I don't think Scott has very long." 

Kryten looked at them for a while. Then he pressed a button, behind his ear, and the top of his head popped up, like a car bonnet. Next, he pulled out a column full of chips and diodes. He pressed a series of the diodes, in a particular order, and one of the chips was ejected from the column. He took it out and held it in his hand for a moment. Then he clenched his fist and the chip was crushed to bits. Kryten dropped the bits on the floor. Then he turned, and left along the corridor that went to the left.

  "What was that?" Gordon asked.

  "How the smeg did he find out how to do that?" Rimmer said, looking pale.

  "What was it?" Gordon repeated. 

  "That was his most fundamental command chip." The Cat said. "It's the one that stops him form letting a human come to harm."

  "So that means..." Alan began. He didn't need to finish. 

That meant, as far as Kryten was concerned, that saving Scott was no longer an issue.

**********************************************************************

Rimmer and Alan headed out the door that Kryten had gone through. Virgil and The Cat took the right hand corridor, and Gordon took the one straight ahead.

  "Can you sniff him out?" Virgil asked The Cat.

  "Not if we're nowhere near him." The Cat replied. "I think Rimmer and Alan have the best chance of finding him."

  "Maybe." Virgil said. "But these corridors look like they lead in all directions. We may meet him, we may not." They continued along the corridor, guns poised.

************************************************************

Rimmer leapt out from around a wall, hands held up, kung-fu style. Alan, who had gone ahead, looked tiredly back at him.

  "It's safe." Alan said, flatly.

Rimmer and Alan walked down the corridor. They were about to come to the end of it when they heard a noise behind them. They whirled around to see the simulant, grinning at them.

  "I know why you're here." He said. "Your brother is ill and you need to get the antidote from me."

  "And you killed Lister." Rimmer said. "That's why I'm here." 

The simulant laughed at him.

  "And what will you do, Dead Man?" He asked Rimmer. "You can't even touch me."

  "I'm here for.. for.." Rimmer flustered. "Moral support."

The simulant stepped closer. Alan and Rimmer could smell him now. He smelt like an old factory machine; oil and metal.

Then, he reached out and grabbed Alan by the throat. Rimmer could only watch as the simulant lifted Alan off the floor pushing him against the wall. Then he held up his other hand in front of Alan's face. He held out his index and middle finger so that one each was aimed at Alan's eyes. 

Alan choked and thrashed his legs around, but the simulant was far too strong for him. 

The simulants fingers began to grow and elongate. They became two long, shiny spikes. The simulant pushed the spikes into Alan's eyes. He kicked and kicked, but abruptly, the kicking stopped. For a moment, Alan was suspended like this. Then the simulant withdrew his fingers,  actually having to yank them out of the wall behind Alan's' head. Alan fell to the floor. 

Then the simulant turned to Rimmer. He back away, but after one step he was against the opposite wall. The Simulant reached into his body, and grabbed his light-bee. He whipped it out of Rimmer so quickly that Rimmer was able to watch the simualnt crushed it in his hand. Rimmers image crackled and broke up, then it was gone.

**************************************************************************

Gordon had found what looked like some kind of warehouse. It had five stories, each one packed with shelves of unmarked metal crates. Gordon looked up, and above the top floor, was a  gantry. Hanging from the ceiling, was a crane, probably for loading and unloading these crates. 

There was no sign of Kryten or the simulant, so he headed up a flight of stairs to the next level. Then he heard the clunk of boots on the metal flooring, coming from a story higher up. He listened for a minute. Someone was coming down. Gordon pressed himself against the wall and waited. 

Whoever it was was nearly on him, and he quietly raised his gun, and held it against his chest.

When he heard the person approach, he leapt out of his hiding place, gun held out.

It was Kryten. Gordon let his gun down. 

  "Kryten, listen to me." Gordon said. "If you kill this simulant, he can't tell us the antidote to his poison. Let us get that, then you can kill him as much as you want."

  "And while we're there," Kryten said. "We can get the antidote to a bullet in the brain."

Gordon let out a sigh. 

  "I know you don't care about Scott now. But we do. And we need your help."

  "It's Mr. Listers fault." Kryten said. 

Gordon frowned. 

  "What is?"

  "If it hadn't been for him, teaching me to break my programming, teaching me to be more _human_..." 

  "You wouldn't be hurting like this." Gordon said. 

  "Damn him." Kryten said quietly. Then "_DAMN HIM! DAMN HIM! DAMN HIM_!"

He cocked the bazookoid, and began to fire everywhere. Sparks flew off everything, and metal crates exploded all over the warehouse-like area. Then the bazzokiod made a _clunking_ noise; it was out of ammo. So Kryten hefted it up and began to beat the wall with it. He smashed it and smashed it against the wall, until he had no energy left, the shouting had died to a defeated mew, and then he collapsed to the floor with a cry of anguish. 

*********************************************************************

Virgil and The Cat turned yet another corner. This place was full of them. 

  "Anything?" Virgil asked The Cat. But just as he said this, he saw a puddle of blood, seeping from around the next corner. 

He ran to see what is was before The Cat had noticed. 

Virgil reached the corner and look around the bend, so that he could see what it was but The Cat could not. 

  "What is it, bud?" The Cat asked. 

Virgil went Alan's body. It was facing away from him.

  "Alan?" Virgil said, "Oh God." 

Virgil knelt down beside him, and rolled him over. Then, Virgil staggered backwards until he hit the opposite wall, where he slowly slumped down, and sat on the floor.

Alans' eyes were missing, leaving two maroon coloured holes in his head, and his cheeks smeared with blood.

The Cat came around the corner, to see what it was. He stared at Alan for a moment. 

  "Smeg." He said. 

Virgil stood up, shaking.

  "What do we do now?" The Cat asked.

Virgil didn't answer. He sat and stared at nothing. Then he stood up. He had to find the simulant before Kryten did, and stop him from killing it.

_Because he was going to kill the simulant, if he went  to Hell for it. Forever and ever. Amen._


	3. the end

Jeff had dozed off at Scott's bedside. Something disturbed him, and he woke up with a start.

It was Brains, with a mug of coffee.

"How's it going?" Jeff asked him. Brains and Tin-Tin had been working on their own antitode for the poison.

"Not too bad." Brains replied. "The poison very similar to the venom found in snakes. But there's something else in it, and I haven't yet been able to figure out what it is."

"OK, Brains, keep at it."

"Yessir."

Jeff looked back at Scott.

"Hold on, son." He told him. "We're nearly there."

Virgil staggered down a corridor in the complex. He felt sick; Sick with grieve for Alan, and sick with nerves at the thought of having to tell Gordon, and Jeff, and Scott, and John. The Cat followed behind him. Now two of his crew were dead, too. But he was OK, and that was all that mattered.

Just then, Virgils' watch beeped. He took a breath before replying.

"Go ahead." He said, at length.

"Virgil? I found Kryten. How are you and The Cat."

"We're OK, Gordon." Virgil replied. "Where are you? I have some bad news."

"We're in an open area. In some storage bay."

"OK." Virgil said, "we'll get to you as soon as we can."

He produced a hand held homing device that Brains had designed for occasions like this. He pressed a button on the side of it, and the device lit up.

Soon, they had found the storage bay, and Kryten and Gordon were waiting for them.

Virgil went to Gordon.

"Gordon." He said. "It's Alan. He's…." But he couldn't go on.

"You're going to tell me that he's dead." Gordon said.

Virgil swallowed, and nodded.

"I thought so." Gordon said braverly. He bowed his head, and stayed silent for a few moments.

"We have to find the simulant." Virgil said. "At least we can still save Scott."

"How did.." Gordon began, "How did he die? Was it quick?"

Virgil looked at him.

"Yes." He said. "It was quick."

Gordon took a shaky breathe.

"What happened?"

"It's best that you don't know."

"He was my brother," Gordon insisted. "What happened?"

"Well," Virgil said, "It looks like he was stabbed in the eyes."

"Shit." Gordon whispered.

"Yeah." Virgil agreed.

"Begging you pardons, sirs." Kryten interrupted, "We should get a move on."

They began to walk to the other side of the huge storage bay, and this time they stuck together. They walked in silence for a while, listening out for any sign that the simulant was near.

"Hey." Gordon said as they neared the other side of the storage bay. "If we take Alans body home, we can play intellectual games with him, and it won't be any different from when he was alive!"

"You can make jokes, can you?" Kryen asked, coldly.

"Yes, I can," Gordon said, with enormous dignity. "One of my brothers dying. In fact, he may be dead by now; we don't know. And my other brother has just been killed on the most awful way you could imagine. I can make jokes because if I couldn't, I'd have lost my mind a long time ago. That's what humans do, Kryten. It's a little survival tactic to keep themselves sane; When something hurts so much you can't even breathe, then you laugh."

"Guys," Virgil interrupted. "I heard something."

They all listened. He was right, somebody was approaching, and it was the simulant. He stalked up to The Cat, and swung his fist into his jaw, sending him flying into some crates, and knocking him out cold. The simulant turned to Virgil and Gordon.

"So, you found your brother." He said. "I think you would like to know that he went out fighting."

Virgil charged toward the simulant, to attack him, but the simulant was too quick for him, and he seized Virgil by the throat.

This time, Gordon tried to rush the simulant, but he swung his hand back and sent Gordon flying across the storage bay. He slid across the floor for a few feet, and collided with a pile of crates, that fell on top of him.

"Mr. Tracy, sir." Kryten called. "Hang on."

Kryten crept round behind the simulant and found an iron bar that was on the floor. He swung it round and hit the simulant on the back as hard as he could. The simulant was completely unharmed, but he let Virgil go. Virgil coughed and rubbed his throat.

Kryten swung the bar again, but the simulant caught it and twisted it out of his hands, and smiled at Kryten.

"Now then." He mused. "Which of you shall be next?"

He swung the bar around, and hit Kryten in the side, There was a loud cracking noise, and Kryten fell over.

Then the simulant approached Virgil. Virgil drew his gun from his holster and fired at simulant. The bullet pinged off him.

The simulant began to walk towards Virgil, who fired again, and again the bullet just bounced off the simulant, and he kept coming towards Virgil.

Virgil backed up against some crates.

"Nowhere to go," The simulant taunted.

Vrigil tried to dive past him, but the simulant caught him, and threw him to the floor. He sat astride Virgil and wrapped his hands around his throat, and squeezed. Virgils hand desperately searched the floor for something to grab holds of, but there was nothing. He choked and coughed, but the simulant was unrelenting. He tried to claw at the simulants finger, but they were like a vice. His head felt like it was filling with blood, and his vision was becoming blurry. His made one last attempt to grab hold of something to hit the simulant with, but still there was nothing. He was about to give up hope when suddenly, the simulant seemed to jerk, and release his grip. His faced was twisted in shock and pain, and he just sat there, shuddering.

Kryten had come to, and had driven the iron bar straight though the simulant.

The simulant jumped to his feet and began to spin around and around. Sparks flew off him, and he fizzed and crackled and he collided with piles of crates, knocking them down. He grasped the bar, and tried to yank it out of himself, but he couldn't.

Kryten helped Virgil to his feet, and The Cat and Gordon had come to as well.

"We have to go." Kryten said, pulling Virgil by the arm.

"Not until he's finished." Virgil said.

The simulant continued to spin and sparks continued to fly. But then, he stopped spinning, and looked at them. He was still fizzing and crackling, but he stared at them, smiling, almost satisfactorily.

"RUUUN!" Virgil shouted.

They all ran for the door, but they knew they were not going to make it. They all dived behind crates as the simulant exploded in huge fireball. Bits of him rained down on them, and then there was silence.

Gordon and Virgil got Alans body into Thunderbird Three. Then they went over to Star-Bug to see how Kryten and The Cat were doing.

Virgil collapsed into the pilot seat, and bowed his head and rested his eyes.

"What happened?" Holly asked.

"The simulant killed Alan and Rimmer." Virgil replied, without looking up. "But we killed him."

"I'm sorry." Holly said.

"Now I have to tell everyone at home." Virgil said gravely. "And find out if Scott is OK."

Gordon gave his shoulder a squeeze. And Virgil laid his hand on top of Gordons. They were both physically and mentally exhausted, and they just wanted to get home.

"We'll both tell them." Gordon said. Virgil gave him a smile.

"Hey look," Holly said. "While you were away, I've been playing with this time-drive thingy. And if my calculations are correct, it will undo everything the simulant did."

Slowly, Virgil stood up.

"Undo everything the simulant did? What, ever?"

"No." Holly replied, "just since we met him."

"How?" Kryten asked, approaching the time drive.

"You need to put in the following code," Holly said. "57468754/68"

Kryten punched the numbers into the time drive. They all waited for something to happen. They waited and waited, but after four whole minutes, nothing had happened.

"It hasn't worked." Virgil said. Tears stung his eyes.

Everyone seemed to deflate. Kryten looked at Virgil, and gave him an apologetic look. Gordon looked miserably at the floor, and The Cat, didn't know what to do. But then, Gordon said,

"Look!"

The time-drive seemed to glow, and the air inside Star-Bug became distorted, and rippled

The rippling separated into three different parts, then they all took on a human shape. Rimmer materialised first, then Alan, and finally, Lister.

Virgils neck had stopped hurting, where the simulant had tried to strangle him, and the dent that the bar had left in Krytens side had gone.

Virgil and Gordon rushed over to Alan, and held him between them, then they sat Alan in one or the pilot seats, and crouched in front of him, talking to him and telling him what had happened to the simulant,a dn asking him how he felt

Rimmer felt himself all over, and he was fine.

"Welcome back." Holly said.

Kryten stepped up to Lister.

"Oh sir!" He cried.

He threw his arms around Lister, and hugged him, bruising him all over. Lister winced, but he didn't pull away.

"We'd better get back." Virgil said. He turned to the Red Dwarf crew, together again. "Do you want to come back with us? I'm sure dad will want to thank you."

"No." Lister said, letting go of Kryten. "We'll come back to 'thank you' to you. And I won't mind saying goodbye to Scott."

"Of course." Gordon said. "Scott will be OK now, won't he? Now that we undid everything the simulant did."

"You're right." Kryten agreed. "Come on, sirs let's go home."

Alan, Gordon and Virgil went to Thunderbird Three, and started her engines. Both of the craft lifted off and flew off into space. Then Star-Bug enganged the wormhole generator, and both ships flew into the hole torn in time.

Virgil could picture Scott clearly as they approached Tracy Island; sprawled out on the couch, in his check shirt, sipping Scotch and reading a magazine.

Thunderbird Three touched-down into her silo, and Star-Bug landed on a patch of grass, near the house. They climbed out of their respective craft, and gathered around the pool.

"Ready?" Virgil said. He was so excited he had to catch his breath.

He opened the door and went in. Everyone followed him. It was quiet.

Horribly quiet.

There was no sign of anybody in the lounge. He went to kitchen, no one there, either.

"Er, Bud." The Cat said. "I think he's still sick."

Wordlessly, Virgil headed to the sickbay. The Cat was right, Scott was still in the bed, still unconscious, and wired to the heart monitor. Jeff and Kyrano were sat next to the bed.

"We're back." Gordon said.

"Just in time." Jeff said, and they all knew, from the tone of his voice, what he was insinuating. _You're just in time, because Scott's not got long left._

"I don't get it." Virgil said. "We undid everything the simulant did to us."

Suddenly, Lister stared at him.

"The simualant didn't hurt Scott." He said, quickly "His friend did."

"So what do we do now?" Gordon asked.

"Wait a minute." Jeff said. "Why is the fact that the simulant didn't hurt him important?"

"We used our time-drive to undo everything the simulant did." Kryten explained. "He killed Alan, and…"

"He _killed_ Alan?" Jeff asked, looking at Alan.

"Yes." Virgil said. "But we got him back, and Rimmer, too. Oh, and Lister. But we all thought the simulant had hurt Scott."

"So we haven't saved him?" Alan said, miseraly.

As they were talking, the _bip _sound of the heart monitor began to slow down. Jeff stared at it for a few seconds, almost paralysed. Virgil took off out the door and tore down to Brains lab. Brians and Tin-Tin were pouring over some notes when he appeared at the door.

"Brains," Virgil gasped. " We need that antidote. NOW."

"It's not ready." Brains protested.

Virgil ran his hand through his hair, frantically trying to think of what to do next.

"We're just going to have to try it as it is." He said. "How far have you got with it?"

"We've found the antitode to two of the three components of the poison. But we still…."

"Fantastic. Let's go." Virgil dashed out the lab and headed back to the sickbay. Brains had no choice but to follow him with the incomplete antidote.

Brians, Virgil and Tin-Tin arrived back at the sickbay. Kryten was checking Scotts' vital signs.

"Pulse is weak, but it's still there, just." He was saying, "And he's still breathing on his own."

"Here," Brains said, and pushed his way toward Scott, passed Kryten. "I need something to tie round his arm."

"Have this," Lister said, handing Brains the belt from his trousers.

Brains thanked Lister and tied the belt around Scotts' arm, to raise a vein. Then he took a hypodermic needle from his lab coat pocket and removed the safety cap with his teeth. He attached a syringe filled with the antidote to the needle. and held it in the air. He depressed the syringe slightly, and a jet of clear liquid arced into the air, then landed on the floor.

He tapped the top of Scotts' elbow, then carefully inserted the needle into his vein, and gently squeezed the syringe

"OK." He breathed, to himself, rather than anybody else.

Without warning, the heart monitor began to slow down at an alarming rate, until there was a good five second pause between each _bip._

"What is it?" Jeff said. "What's going on?"

"I don't know." Brains said, on the brink of panic

"Oh, God." Jeff said. "He's dying."

The heart monitor slowed down further, then it stopped.

"Scott?" Jeff said, quietly. "Scott?"

Still the heart monitor was silent, and Scott didn't answer. Kryten checked his signs again. Then he looked at Lister and shook his head. Everyone in the room was silent, immersed in grief and shock. Jeff sat on the bed, beside Scott. He out his head on his sons chest and wept. Virgil, Gordon and Alan huddled together and wept, too. Lister spun around and smashed his fist into the wall. And Kryten, Rimmer and The Cat stood in solemn silence. Jeff stood up to leave the, room, and go and tell Grandma and Kyrano.

But then, the heart monitor _bipped._ Just once. There was a pause of about five seconds and it bipped again. Gradually, the bipping got faster and faster, and stronger and stronger, until it was bipping at a healthy, regular speed. Jeff turned around and looked from Scott to Brains in amazement.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I think I know what happened." Kryten said. "The simulant didn't torture Scott. But he did design and create the poison. It just took a little longer to become undone. He must have created it a long time ago."

"So my antidote didn't work, then?" Brains asked.

"It would have done." Kryten said. "But this time, it was the time-drive."

Scott was sitting up now.

"Hey son," Jeff said to him. "How do you feel?"

"Heck. I feel fine." With that he pushed down the bed clothes and looked at his stomach. There was not a mark on it.

"Wow." Said Lister, "It really did undo everything."

"Listen." Said Jeff, turning to Lister, Rimmer, The Cat, and Kryten. "We owe you our greatest thanks."

"Yeah." Scott put in, "Thanks."

"It was nothing," Lister said.

"Not for you maybe." Rimmer chided him. He turned to Scott. "It was Kryten who destroyed the simulant in the end."

"Thank you, Kryten." Scott said, with a smile.

"And it was Holly who worked out how to program the time drive." Lister said.

"Uh-huh?" Scott said, and still smiling gently, he rested back on the pillow.

"Come on then Dad." John Tracy said, "I'll thrash you at a game of chess."

Jeff expected the challenge and got up from behim his desk. The Red Dwarf crew had been gone for a few weeks now. They had recreated the worm hole, disappeared into it. But not before Jeff had invited them for one last meal, prepared by Grandma and Kyrano.

Alan had just started his shift in Thunderbird 5, and since Lister et al had been gone, International Rescue had carried out two (simple) yet successful missions.

Jeff had told Lister to drop that he and his crew could drop in anytime. But they hadn't heard from them again. Not yet, anyway.

Jeff and John settled down on either side of the chess board, while Scott dozed in the arm chair.

Just then, Virgil came bounding in through the patio doors, brandishing two tennis rackets.

"Hey Scott." He said. "Are you up for a game?"

"Nah," Said Scott, without opening his eyes. "Maybe another time."


End file.
